How Do Headhunters Help With Executive Recruitment? By Joaquin Costa
Using a headhunter turns a passive executive recruitment strategy into an aggressive one. Rather than advertising a post and hoping that the best candidates come to you to apply, when you use a headhunting service, you send someone out to track down the best candidates for you. Many people will be interested in a position if it is offered to them personally, even though they are not currently looking for a new job. You can only recruit these people if you make the first move, because they won't see your ads or apply for a job.
Headhunters specialize in executive recruitment. They work for the companies that need the best new talent and which are willing to make the sort of offers that can tempt a skilled executive away from their current position. Headhunters target the best people for the job. They hunt them down and convince them to meet with the recruiter who is interested in them. This places the headhunter between employers and new recruits. They act as a mediator, a negotiator, or even a matchmaker, helping to find the perfect candidate for a job, and helping executives to move into new and better positions.
In order to be successful, a headhunter must have insider knowledge of the industry in which they are working. They must have a network of contact through whom they can find out about the positions that are going to become vacant, and about any newly created positions. They need to keep an ear out for any high level professionals who might be looking for work, or who could be ready to make a move if the right offer is made to them.
Headhunters usually work on commission. Their fee is usually calculated as a pre-specified percentage of the salary of the job for which they are recruiting people. The exact percentage will be negotiated with each employer that uses their service, but a fee of about 25 percent is fairly typical. This means that a headhunter can earn a lot from a single position that they are able to fill. Headhunting does not provide a steady income, however, since the availability of positions and people who are suitable to fill them can vary.
The main benefits for an employer who chooses to recruit through a headhunter are the savings in time and resources. The company does not need to spend its own time and money finding candidates to fill a position. Finding someone who can work at the highest levels can be very difficult since the pool of available candidates can be small. Some of the largest companies in the world are able to manage recruitment themselves, often having a special department specifically to deal with finding suitable candidates. Smaller companies that are unable to spend as much time and money on recruitment often choose to use a headhunter instead.
Another important benefit of using a headhunter is that the candidates who will be presented by the headhunter have already been evaluated. There is no need for the company to spend as much time sifting through applications and comparing candidates. They can also be sure that the candidates selected for them by a headhunter are among the best in the industry.
The candidates who work with headhunters receive similar benefits. They are offered positions that they would not otherwise have known about, and they can work with a headhunter to find their dream job. Candidates can specify their requirements to the headhunter, for example asking for a certain type of position, salary, or particular benefits. They can even ask the headhunter to look for an opening in specific companies for which they hope to work. Headhunters can also give candidates an advantage when they are selected for an interview, by offering additional information about the recruiting company and their competition for the post.
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